Masdar and Boeing work on SAF global acceptance

Masdar

Abu Dhabi’s state clean energy company Masdar and the American plane-maker Boeing have agreed to jointly work on accelerating global sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) regulations.

The partnership document, signed at Adipec 2023, strives to support the commercial aviation industry’s goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.

The two companies will advance and support the development and adoption of SAF policies in the UAE and beyond. In addition, they will explore advancing SAF accounting principles, allowing the industry to overcome geographical barriers as it scales.

Produced from sustainable sources such as green hydrogen, SAF can reduce carbon emissions over the fuel’s lifecycle by up to 85 percent compared to petroleum jet fuel. 

Mohammad El-Ramahi, chief green hydrogen officer, Masdar, said: “Global net-zero goals can only be achieved through international collaboration and innovation.”

Adopting SAF is going to be aviation’s most powerful decarbonisation lever, added Kuljit Ghata-Aura, president of Boeing Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

Earlier this year, Masdar announced an initiative on green hydrogen to produce SAF from methanol.

Emirates recently signed an agreement with Shell Aviation to supply more than 300,000 gallons of blended SAF for use at Dubai International Airport (DXB).  

The first delivery is expected to commence before the end of the year – the first time SAF is supplied through the DXB airport fuelling system.

Akbar Al Baker, the CEO of Qatar Airways, said in April that the airline is buying SAF to reduce the environmental impact of air travel. However, he labelled the fuel “exorbitantly expensive” and says it is only available in low volumes “because the production cost is too high”.